Air Quality for both me and my bird

[Hoots]

Hello all. Hope this finds everyone well.

I have a question about air quality around my African Grey.

Since COVID-19 started up (Mid March) I have had to isolate myself in a 12 X 20 Living space, in which my African Grey is with me from 7 in the morning until 9 at night (14 hrs). I basically work, sleep and eat in this space.

I have been noticing problems with my ears, nose and now mouth and am wondering if it might be the air quality causing it. I run two pretty decent size HEPA Air cleaners. Other things I have been doing:

-Frequent (every other day) changing of the newspaper under the play stand he spends those 14+ hrs on.

-Spray showers (of him) every other day.

-Changing the pre-fliters and HEPA filters.

-Opening windows on days/nights when it isn't too cold/hot out.

So I guess my question(s) are.

1. Has anyone else experienced physical ailments from being around their bird(s) too much (inner ear), burning sinus and burning tongue?

2. Suggestions on best air cleaners for a bird room.

Obviously, I am worried about both mine and my birds health.

Thank You

 

[noodles123]

what kind of filter/purifier do you have?
what kind of bird do you have?

Opening windows can make air quality worse depending on where you live. My purifiers always turn red (meaning poor) when I open mine, but if you are just worried about certain things, opening them can help---depends on your concerns.

People can have allergies to birds and long-term, there are issues that can occur with a ton of exposure, but unless you are allergic, it seems a short period of time for you to develop symptoms of illness (bird-keepers lung is a long-term exposure thing and it is not an allergy, but a long-term irritation/chronic condition).

 

[Hoots]

Thanks for your reply Noodles, appreciate it.

I am running two HEPA air purifiers. One is a Honeywell 83330 and the other a Hunter 30729.

I have a 10 year old African Grey. Even with his every other day misting baths, he still creates a lot of feather dust, which is very obvious by the constant dusting I am doing.

I have never had allergies to outside things, nor have I ever felt this way around the bird. It all seemed to start when, because of COVID, we needed to start spending 14 hrs at a time together and I sleep in that room at night (he sleeps in another room).

 

[noodles123]

I am not a vet or doctor, but if you think it's bird related and not Covid itself or something, I would suggest a really nice air purifier...
I got a $700 one on a payment plan and it's roughly 50 a month more me. I have a large cockatoo, so I get the whole dust thing. Once I upgraded to a higher quality filter and purification system, the dust decreased a ton.

I will paste a post I wrote earlier today:


Here's that copy and paste-
" have multiple hepa + VOC filters running around the house inside of non-ionizing/non-ozone producing purifiers (you do not want to run the ion or ozone setting around a bird).
Not all purifiers and filters same, and the filters that capture VOCs are more expensive, but maybe that could help? It can take quite a few to clean the air in a home, but if your levels are sketchy, even if you don't get a bird, for your family you might look into one.

The nicest one I have is an AlenAir breath smart purifier with a fresh plus filter (for VOCs, cooking odors, smoke, allergens etc)--obviously you cannot use dangerous things around the bird just because you have one of these, but sometimes new furniture, floors, paints, cabinets, mattresses etc can produce VOCs in a home...The last person who lived here was a major Glade-Plug-in user and despite washing the walls and curtains and airing the place out, changing furnace filters etc I couldn't fix it. The purifiers did the trick. I also use others...Not cheap, but made a serious difference here. I only have 1 AlenAir- the rest are HathaSpace brand and much cheaper, but not as good (and still not super cheap). I am still glad I have them, but the AlenAir does the heavy lifting. The others just sort of support it lol!
The purifier in the bird room has run on its highest setting 24/7 for a year and the filter is still good. The indicator light did just turn yellow, so I ordered another filter...but they last compared to the cheaper ones. I used to have a super low-budget purifier that didn't do VOCs but I was replacing those filters all the time...like every 3 months for 40 bucks...

AGAIN-- filters will not save a bird from teflon or a gas leak, but they can help with certain issues indoors."

I would also get a nice vacuum with a hepa filter (like a Shark or Dyson) if you have the money to spare and have carpet in your home. Sharks are great and a lot cheaper-- get one with a hepa filter, again.

Also, change your furnace/AC filter and make sure humidity isn't too high or too low in your home. 50 is ideal.

 

[SailBoat]

Agree with noodles!

Getting a high-end Filtering unit is far better than running a couple of good units. In addition, when replacing the filter in your unit, it is very important to fully inspect it as they can have issues regarding mold depending on the design of the unit.

Where you live is as important. The reality of a 'sick' home or apartment and their issues will show-up when you are spending extensive time in the unit. As an example, whether the heating /cooling system is shared with other units or if the system has an air exchange system and whether those units filters are being changed out in a timely manor. The same is true for a heating /cooling that only supports your room /home, unit, etc...

Over the last month and this month, your State has experienced very high temperatures and very poor air quality to a level that have individuals who rarely have allergies are suffering heavily this year. Much of what you are defining could also define allergies.

 

[Hoots]

Thanks Noodles and Sailboat. I am going to look into upgrading my 2 air purifiers to one really good one. I also finally got an appointment to see an ENT Doc tomorrow, so I hope that gives me some more answers or at least rules out some things. Obviously, the best answer is "you are fine, you just need a better air purifier to be spending that much time around your bird".

 

[Ephy]

IMO, changing the birds soiled paper should be done twice a day, first thing in the morning and then again in the early evening. Especially in a room that size, where you both spend all your time in.

When their poop dries, simply flapping his wings will cause particles of dried poop to flake off into the air.

Use a bird safe cleaning spray to mist down his cage and stand once a day, will also help. I use F10 SC vet disinfectant.

Greys are very dusty birds, make sure to wash any blankets, toys etc often as the dust will collect and you and him will breath it in. (Weekly is ideal, dont use any detergent, just hot water) That also goes for any furniture, bedding, curtains, your clothing, any fabric that is exposed.

Daily bird baths , showers or misting will help him.

Also, mist soiled paper before gathering it up to help limit how much poop dust gets in the air.

Get a Good quality hepa vacuum, and make it part of your daily routines to suck up dust or carpets as it will collect in there too.

This is your health and your birds health after all. It must be pretty bad if you can notice it and have air filters running.
You'd be surprised how much the air quality will improve with these daily cleaning/maintenance routines.

 

[noodles123]

IMO, changing the birds soiled paper should be done twice a day, first thing in the morning and then again in the evening.

When their poop dries, simply flapping his wings will cause particles of dried poop to flake off into the air.

Use a bird safe cleaning spray to mist down his cage and stand once a day, will also help.

Greys are very dusty birds, make sure to wash any blankets, toys etc often as the dust will collect and you and him will breath it in. That also goes for any furniture, bedding, clothing that is exposed.

Daily bird baths , showers or misting will help him.

Also, mist soiled paper before gathering it up to help limit how much poop dust gets in the air.

Get a Good quality hepa vacuum, and make it part of your daily routines to suck up dust or carpets as it will collect in there too.

This is your health and your birds health after all. It must be pretty bad if you can notice it and have air filters running.
You'd be surprised how much the air quality will improve with these daily cleaning/maintenance routines.

I will say, in a small space, even with all of those things, it can be a challenge to keep the air clean without a really solid purifier-- ESPECIALLY with carpet...But I do agree with these suggestions.